Numbers 1:48

The Levites’ exclusion from the census

48 The LORD spoke to Moses:

Numbers 1:48 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 1:48

For the Lord had spoken unto Moses
Not to number the Levites, when he gave him the orders to number the rest of the tribes: this is observed, lest it should be thought that this was what Moses did of himself, out of affection to the tribe he was of, and to spare it, that it might not be obliged to go forth to war when others did; not that they were forbid to engage in war, or that it was unlawful for them so to do, for when necessity required, and they were of themselves willing to engage in it, they might, as appears in the case of the Maccabees, but they might not be forced into it; they were, as Josephus

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FOOTNOTES:

F5 says, exempted from it; and so all concerned in religious service, both among Heathens and Christians, have always been excused bearing arms:

saying;
as follows.

F5 Antiqu. l. 3. c. 12. sect. 4.

Numbers 1:48 In-Context

46 All those enlisted were 603,550.

47 But the Levites, belonging to their own ancestral tribe, weren't enlisted along with them.

48 The LORD spoke to Moses:

49 You must not enlist the tribe of Levi, nor should you take their census along with the Israelites.

50 Rather, assign the Levites to the covenant dwelling, to all its equipment, and to everything that belongs to it. They will carry the dwelling and all its equipment, perform its religious ceremonies, and camp around the dwelling.